1. My real mom hugs me, but not the way that
  2. my boss does. We kiss at work.
  3. It seemed strange when I started,
  4. but now that I'm accustomed to it
  5. I couldn't imagine an affection free day.

 

  1. When I was a kid my mom read 
  2. a stack of books while she was packing
  3. and moving. My boss gives me
  4. toothpaste, shampoo, praise, honesty,
  5. and unconditional love.

 

  1. My boss never had a mom. Her dad found her
  2. and her siblings at an orphanage
  3. when she was about four. Her grandfather raped her.
  4. But she was able to keep her baby sister virginal.
  5. She keeps it real, the way a mother should.

 

  1. When I was married my mom sided with him.
  2. I'm hard to get along with, admit it, my family says.
  3. My boss tells me that I'm strong, smart, 
  4. amazing, and a very good mother.
  5. Sometimes I try to believe her.

 

  1. People in my family don't understand why
  2. I love working at a grocery store 
  3. when I could be finding a better job
  4. where I would earn more money.
  5. When I was a kid my parents stole my savings.

 

  1. I got married when they got divorced.
  2. I'd be a millionaire today had I been able to follow my values.
  3. Instead I married someone who charged more than $50,000
  4. to credit cards taken out in my name.
  5. Typical story; husband takes destitute wife to cleaners.

 

  1. It's hard for me to hang onto money
  2. and save it. Or to see the value in doing so,
  3. because ever since I was a child I was taught
  4. that saving things means someone else
  5. feasts while you famine.

 

  1. Fortunately for me I am seeing the error
  2. of my ways. It wasn't me that was the problem.
  3. It was my environment and the examples set by others who should 
  4. have known better.
  5. Having a work mom means I can start giving Jill and Jane

 

  1. The kind of love that I never got from the woman who gave me
  2. the middle initial R, crazy blonde hair, bitter green eyes,
  3. fading scars and a temper. After all, the hand that goes up
  4. in anger, marks pale flesh. I'm not perfect, but at least
  5. my kids are safer and wealthier than I was.

 

  1. The best mothers know that unless children feel safe
  2. and loved, protected, cherished, nurtured, 
  3. respected, forgiven even when they fuck up,
  4. you'll never be able to pass that along
  5. to future generations. Thanks mom. I love you